Mac Brothers unite and help me solve my printing issues!

Jeff · 09-08-2005, 03:38 PM

First off here is what I'm running. E-Mac 10.4.2. Installed for 1.5 months.

The problem I'm having is with the quality my printer is producing. It has lines thru it like a print nozzle is clogged. No problem, I run a clean nozzle procedure. Still the same problem. OK so I go get my wifes printer, print quality is still poor.
I have changed ink cartidges in both printers, still no joy. Was working fine one day and next not.

Also, I ran Disk Warrior thinking something was out of wack, No luck.

My guess is that my kids changed a setting accidentally when they were on the net.

Where should I start?

Thanks

Joeaksa · 09-08-2005, 04:08 PM

Buy a PC. Come to Don's engine pull party on Saturday and I can and will help you with this difficult theory....

JoeA

bryanthompson · bryanthompson's Garage

when you say that the quality is poor when switching to your wife's printer, do you mean that it does the exact same thing (with the strikethrough)?

Try unplugging the printer, System preferences -> print & fax, remove your printer, then plug it back in. It should find itself and come back. Don't know for sure if that will fix your problem, hopefully it does.

I couldn't imagine any kid being able to change some setting that would cause such a problem... Apple tries to hide everything that could cause problems. It sounds more likely to be a broken printer than a wrong setting... although switching printers should have been able to verify that.

stomachmonkey · 09-08-2005, 05:36 PM

Page setup can make a big diff.

It sounds like you are running in economy mode.

Stupid question, are you sure that you are using the right paper or did you recently switch brands?

Scott

Jeff · 09-09-2005, 07:45 AM

Joe , I can't go to the dark side. Macs are so much easier for a simple mind like mine. See you saturday.

Bryan, Yes it does the same thing. I have also tried changing USB cord and the port which I plug it into. Will try unplugging / deleting printer and plugging back in.

Stomach, I have tried all different modes, The only way to get a readable print is to use the best mode and it is barely acceptable. Will try switching paper setting but right now am running plain white which is what is in the printer.

LeeH · 09-09-2005, 07:54 AM

What kind of printer are you using? Is the print head built into the ink cartridge or does it have a permanently mounted print head?

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by C U L8R
Joe , I can't go to the dark side. Macs are so much easier for a simple mind like mine. See you saturday.

Bryan, Yes it does the same thing. I have also tried changing USB cord and the port which I plug it into. Will try unplugging / deleting printer and plugging back in.

Stomach, I have tried all different modes, The only way to get a readable print is to use the best mode and it is barely acceptable. Will try switching paper setting but right now am running plain white which is what is in the printer.

LeeH's question is first, then you need to go to the printer manufacturer's site and make sure you have the latest driver.

The OS is the last thing to suspect. Depending on the printer [especially HPs] and application, there can be conflicting dialogs regarding settings. I've also found that in some Microsoft applications, I have better luck with preview>print to smoke out issues buried in multiple settings boxes.

Jeff · 09-09-2005, 08:03 AM

Here is another thing. When I print in color It prints in only Black and Yellow and very poor quality.

Have tried the above suggestions (ending w/ stomachmonkey) and still no change.

Any other thoughts?

deanp · 09-09-2005, 08:04 AM

Agree with those comments above (except buy a PC). Look under page set-up or in the print dialog box for printer settings. You'll find different settings for printing, plain paper, glossy paper, normal , economy, etc.

Jeff · 09-09-2005, 08:08 AM

Lee, The printers I am using are the Epson Stylus C84 and H.P. deskjet 832. Don't know if the cartidge contains the print head or not. How would I know?

Tech, I have the latest driver for the epson (primary printer) but did not load a driver for the HP ( the computer found it). I will hook the HP back up and down load the latest driver.
If that doesn't work where would I look in the OS for printer problems?

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by C U L8R
Tech, I have the latest driver for the epson (primary printer) but did not load a driver for the HP ( the computer found it). I will hook the HP back up and down load the latest driver.
If that doesn't work where would I look in the OS for printer problems?

The printer drivers are the suspects. There's nothing in the OS to deal with at all.

If you want to be certain there's no old printer code lying around, you culd look in your Libraries..

Also: just throught of this: do you have Classic running? I've had a couple of instances of OSX apps (PhotoShop) invoking an old OS9 printer driver.

Jeff · 09-09-2005, 09:21 AM

Tech, Thanks I'll check the libraries.

When I upgraded to 10.4.2 I replaced all my OS9 stuff with 10 compatable.

Jeff · 09-09-2005, 10:26 AM

Installed newest driver for the HP and tried printing. The black came out black (with much improvement in quality) but the colors are off. Every other color that black prints in a light magenta.

Any thoughts? Seems odd that both printers would be printing weird.

Is there something that needs to be done within the printer utilities?

deanp · 09-09-2005, 10:40 AM

Hook the Epson back up.

Find the Epson printer utility, appropriately named "Epson Printer Utility", select C84 from the list.

Click on status monitor, this will show you what the ink level is in each cartridge. If it shows ink levels are okay use the Nozzle Check to print out a page, it prints so many lines in black, magenta, cyan and yellow.

If certain colors are not visible, do the head cleaning, then check the status again. You may need to do this a few times to get it corrected.

Jeff · 09-12-2005, 06:44 AM

Dean, Thanks for the in put. I did that and also the alignment of the print pattern etc. It is just strange that both printers (with new drivers) are not printing correctly. Seems like a computer issue and not a printer issue.

Any other suggestions? I'm almost to the sledge hammer stage!

deanp · 09-12-2005, 06:54 AM

Hmmmm, I've never had a problem persist after running through the Epson diagnostics and I've only used Epson printers for about the last 10 years. Not sure what else to suggest, sorry.

Joeaksa · 09-12-2005, 07:18 AM

PC is sounding better every day now!

Jeff, you are lucky that we did not get into the PC vs MAC discussion at Dons!

JoeA

BlueSkyJaunte · 09-12-2005, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
PC is sounding better every day now!

Jeff, you are lucky that we did not get into the PC vs MAC discussion at Dons!

JoeA

No, Joe, you're lucky.

Joeaksa · 09-12-2005, 07:45 AM

Just when did you need some welding done on your new chopper frame??

Joe

Jeff · 09-12-2005, 07:47 AM

Can't we all just get along?